Until only the human dignity is left
by Alicia Mirza
Summary: "That's You-Know-Who's way of irony. Numerus clauses was a law made in 1920, a muggle law actually. It has started Ron, it really has and I'm not sure we can do anything about it. The Ministry is in his hand, he controls everything and he even makes fun of us. He hates muggles, but he hates my kind even more." AU - Harry died during Goblet of Fire and Voldemort takes over control.


_**This oneshot was written for the **__**Quidditch League Competition (Round 9).**_

**Team:** Holyhead Harpies

**Position:** Chaser 2

**Task:** What if Harry Potter had died in the graveyard at the end of GoF? (Note: Your story does not need to focus on Harry, though it can if you wish. E.g. A story about Draco Malfoy in the aftermath of Harry's death.)

**Wordcount:** 2223 words

**Bonus prompts: **birthday, full moon, winter winds

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_**Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series, all rights go to J.K. Rowling.**_

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_Until only the human dignity is left_

**Disenfranchisement**

She looked up from the newspaper and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened the boy right next to her was looking a bit worriedly in her direction.

"Is everything okay, Hermione?" he asked softly and she wanted to get up and scream. She wanted to shout that nothing was okay, but she didn't have the strength. She only shook her head and tossed the Daily Prophet to him. He looked questioningly at her, his blue eyes full of emotions.

He scanned through the paper and he nearly gave it back when he noticed what made her even more upset.

"Numerus clauses? What's that?" he asked softly and she started laughing humourlessly. A single tear escaped her eye, but she continued the hysterical laughing.

"That's You-Know-Who's way of irony. Numerus clauses was a law made in 1920, a muggle law actually," Hermione stated and the redhead raised his eyebrows. "It has started Ron, it really has and I'm not sure we can do anything about it. The Ministry is in his hand, he controls everything and he even makes fun of us. He hates muggles, but he hates my kind even more. Ron, he actually copies what has happened during the time of Holocaust, only now the Muggle-borns are the Jews."

"What is the whole Number Claus thingy about?" Ron asked and Hermione grimaced.

"Numerus clauses, it means that he made racial quotas," she stated and he looked curiously at her.

"What does that mean?" he questioned the brunette who sighed.

"It means that in a few months the fact that I'm the best student in the whole school probably won't mean much, Ron. It means that he wants to kill all Muggle-borns with the help of law. He first takes all our rights and then our life. The same will happen as in the muggle world a few decades ago," she told him and the worry in his eyes was even more emphasized.

"First Harry, now this. I couldn't save him, but I won't fail my best friend again. I won't let anything happen to you, Mione," he stated and she smiled sadly.

"You can't do anything, Ron. In a few weeks, maybe months I will have to end my studies here. Maybe I can leave the country and live in another land in the muggle world, but I don't think that will happen. You-Know-Who knows about us, he knows what Harry meant for us. He will not forget about my status easily," she said and he nodded.

"Maybe, but after the graveyard I promised myself that I will never, ever let anything happen to my friends. Harry died for us, Mione, we need to keep fight, and you know as well as I do that he would want us to fight."

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**Despoilment**

The winter winds were already there by the time the next step came. Hermione knew what was coming, she knew that that madman wanted to follow the path of someone just like him, someone who did the same and had the same view even if he was a muggle.

She wasn't surprised when she heard that Hogwarts could only take a limited numbers of Muggle-borns. She wasn't surprised when she was among the few who could actually continue her study, the professors made sure of that. She wasn't even a bit surprised when Hogwarts couldn't support even the remaining Muggle-borns and some of the still attending students had to live like the Creevey brothers.

She wasn't surprised when she heard that she had to give all her properties to the Ministry. At least she was still at Hogwarts even if her robes were lent to her by Ginny, Parvati and Padma.

She was studying even more, still achieving everything she could, she was still the best and no one could take that from her. Maybe she didn't have her own cauldron anymore, maybe it was given to Draco Malfoy even though his family never had problem with buying one, but she still had something to be proud of.

"This is ridiculous," Ron muttered during breakfast one day, but she only shook her head when she noticed that two men from the Ministry was patrolling and listening for any bad words about the Ministry or about his Lordship. Hermione was pretty sure that they were Death Eaters and they were among the ones who watched as one of her best friends was killed.

"You can't do anything about it," she said softly, but he just shook his head.

"Why doesn't do Dumbledore anything?" he asked with anger in his voice. The brunette smiled sadly and looked towards the table of the professors.

"You know as well as I do that he can't do anything, there are too many people already with You-Know-Who. Also, in a few weeks he will be replaced by a Death Eater or even You-Know-Who himself. I'm surprised that it hasn't happened yet, although I'm guessing that seeing his school in ruins is the worst punishment for Dumbledore," she stated and he nodded. "Muggle-borns don't have hope, everyone knows that and I have already accepted my fate, I guess. I just hope that at least half-bloods and the Ministry's so called 'blood traitors' will be able to survive." She looked at the redhead who grimaced.

"His so called Lordship hates my family just as much as he distastes Muggle-borns, you know that too, Mione. Maybe we can still learn here for a few months, but then the same procedure will happen. Only his faithful purebloods and maybe some ass-kisser half-blood will remain," Ron stated and his blue eyes met her brown ones.

"Your whole family is pureblood," she said in a forceless tone, trying to convince herself that at least the Weasley family could live, but the look the boy gave her made her realize that their blood status didn't mean anything.

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**Deprivation of liberty**

Before Ron's birthday all the Muggle-borns were taken from Hogwarts to the Ministry. Hermione couldn't do anything; she just tried to accept what was coming. She didn't want to die, she was only fifteen, but she didn't want to live in a word controlled by Voldemort either.

All the Muggle-borns were shoved in small rooms and they interrogated all of them. Their favourite question was how Mudbloods - as they called them- stole their magic.

Muggle-Born Registration Commission was made which was kind of ironic in Hermione's opinion as they said they will only 'register' the Muggle-borns, but the truth was that they wanted to imprison or simply kill all of them.

They wanted to extirpate Muggle-borns, which was impossible and everyone knew that except those fanatics who made the Law.

When the time of her interrogation came, Hermione was already hopeless.

"Granger, Hermione Jane?" a man asked the young girl who nodded.

"Yes," she said simply. The man seemed to be on a level of a six-year-old mentally she noticed. He looked at her with his watery bluish eyes and gestured to her to follow.

She was shut in an even smaller room alone until another person arrived. This one was the crazy scientist type with his frizzy whitish hair and big glasses. His eyes were gleaming, but he didn't seem to be kind.

"Hermione Jane Granger, I've heard about you, about the most promising student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You are quite a thing," he stated and she shivered when he smiled at her with his crazy expression.

"Tell me, Miss Granger, how can you be better than a pureblood? How can you excel in everything with you... heritage. You are no more than a muggle yourself. How did you do it?" He leaned closer to her and she looked up, into his eyes.

"I'm a witch, I'm talented, I've actually learned," she stated and he started chuckling.

"No problem, Miss Granger. We have time, you will tell us your secret sooner or later," he stated and she shook her head.

"I don't have a secret. I was born as a witch," she said with determination in her tone and he raised his eyebrows.

"I'm interested in you, Miss Granger. I need you and your information alive," he stated.

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**Deprivation of human dignity**

As Hermione was sitting in the cage she knew that only her life has remained. The crazy madman was looking at her with fascination in his eyes as he was waiting for her reaction.

"This potion should have already killed a muggle. I don't understand, you aren't a witch, you have stolen the magic from someone, and still, you aren't dead. How is that possible?" he asked and Hermione just wanted to laugh. How could he not understand that she was born with magic?

"I need to run another few experiments. Maybe the potion wasn't one hundred percent perfect. Maybe you are doing the same as you have done before," he suggested and looked at the brunette who turned away from him.

"You won't get food until you tell me what is your little trick!" he said furiously, when he realized that the young girl wasn't paying attention to him.

"You little Mudblood, tell me! Tell me how you did it!" he nearly shouted, but Hermione didn't look in his direction. "I need you alive, but a little bit of torture is never bad," he said with a cruel smile on his face.

"_Crucio_," he muttered and pointed his wand on her. Hermione closed her eyes and felt the horrid pain, but she never screamed. No, she was on the cold floor under the effect of the excruciating pain, but she didn't even let out a sound.

The man was grinning first, but when he didn't hear her scream he first stopped the smiling and then he grimaced.

"Filthy Mudblood, why aren't you screaming?" he asked like he was waiting for an answer. Hermione opened her bloodshot eyes and stared at the man who was torturing her.

She never said a word.

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**Deprivation of life**

The light of the full moon lit up the small room where she was staying. She closed her eyes trying to sleep, but before the exhaustion could take control over her body the door opened and the madman appeared in the door.

"Your last chance, Mudblood. Tell me your secret and I will spare you life," he stated and she fixed her brown eyes on him. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked down for a second.

"Learning is my passion, that's my secret; I know what a book means not like _Crabbe_ and _Goyle_," she emphasized the names of the two purebloods who couldn't even count to ten let alone do real magic. He became red with fury; he couldn't believe a Mudblood said something like that about two fine purebloods.

"AVADA..." He raised his wand and pointed it on the girl on the floor, but before he could finish the killing curse he collapsed. Hermione looked up only to meet a blue pair of eyes.

He rushed towards her and hugged her tightly as soon as he reached her. In a moment the room was full of people, most were people the young girl actually recognized, Hogwarts professors and members of the Weasley family.

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**Liberation**

"I can't believe it," she muttered as she put down the newspaper. She looked up only to meet by the same pair of blue eyes who save her life only a couple of days ago.

"He isn't going to win." His voice was soft, but she heard the determination in it.

"He is sick, Ron, he really is sick. He made Mudblood Camps, Ron. He is killing them all," she said softly with desperation in her tone. He smiled sadly and took place right next to her. He placed his hand right next to hers, but he didn't take it.

"Muggle-borns aren't the only he is after. He actually really ranked everyone. Not only Muggle-borns, but the Blood traitors and the not one hundred percent human witches and wizards are in danger. Hell, my brother started dating Fleur Delacour and even she with her Veela heritage is on his list," he stated and she started shaking.

"This has to stop, Ron," she told him fiercely and he smiled. He took her hand and closed it in his palms. He fixed his blue eyes on her brown ones.

"He is a sick bastard and that's why he won't win. He doesn't have a reason to, we have. We need to win this and we will," he stated. She felt as traitor tear escaped her eyes, but before she could wiped it off, he reached up and brushed it with his thumb.

"We will win." This time her voice was full of force. He looked at her with surprise clear in his eyes. "We will win, because Harry died for us. We will win, because so many people have already given their life or their freedom for us and for our happiness. We will win, because we have a reason to live," she said with pure determination in her voice.

"And what is our reason?" he asked curiously. She looked in his blue eyes and smiled softly.

"Love," she said and she leaned closer until her lips met the boy's.


End file.
